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With their best eight-game record since 2005-06, the No. 10 Vermont Catamounts face a key weekend in Providence against a Friars team struggling to live up to its preseason billing.

While UVM (6-1-1, 4-1-1 HEA) has surpassed most expectations to this point, the Friars (3-4-1, 2-2-0) have battled offensive woes despite being the coaches' choice to reign in Hockey East. After a 1-2-1 non-league start, Providence has split HEA series with Boston University and Merrimack, scoring three goals just once and suffering a 1-0 loss to the Warriors last time out.

"It's still early in the season," pointed out UVM coach Kevin Sneddon. "It's hard to score goals in this league and if a couple of your guys you're counting on to score have slow starts, then your team might have a slow start in terms of the offensive side.

"I look at their roster and see (Ross) Mauermann and the great year he had last year and (Mark) Jankowski, who'll probably play in the NHL one day. That's some great talent and they're a dangerous team because of that," he said. "They're still finding ways to win some hockey games and maybe the offense isn't going well but the defense certainly looks pretty strong. They haven't given up much and (Jon) Gillies is in net."

Mauermann led PC with 19 goals and 36 points last year but has only two assists this season. However, he's feasted on UVM in his career with seven goals and 10 points in eight meetings in which the Friars are 6-1-1. Jankowski, 13-12-25 a year ago, has a goal and three points while Nick Saracino, 10-18-28 last season, is 3-1-4.

Even Gillies has been off to a slow start with a 2.57 goals against average and a .917 save percentage compared to his career marks of 2.17 and .930. In addition, the Friars' power play has converted only three of 42 chances (7 percent).

"They got a lot of attention at the beginning of the year for a reason," said Sneddon, who hopes his team's stingy defense can keep Providence's offense mired in its slump.

The Catamounts plan to follow up Saturday's strong 60-minute performance against Maine with a good start, unlike the previous three games when UVM fell behind 2-0 each time.

"It's a challenge every single game to get off to a good start," said UVM captain Mike Paliotta. "We did a good job Saturday playing a full 60 minutes. Friday night, we're going to have to get off to a good start. It's huge if you can dictate the pace of the first 10 minutes of the game and gain some momentum.

"It's doing the little things, being tough to play against both offensively and defensively. Everyone has to get into the game early on, do something, lay a hit, make a hard pass, get a shot on net, something that just gets you into the game and then that becomes contagious on the bench," Paliotta said.

At 6-1-1, UVM is off to its best overall start since an 8-1-0 beginning to the 2005-06 season. The Catamounts' 4-1-1 HEA record is their best start since a matching 4-1-1 mark in 2006-07.

ICE CHIPS: Expect Brody Hoffman to start in goal for UVM, possibly both games. Sneddon conceded Hoffman has the hold on the starting spot, though he said, "We certainly feel (Mike Santaguida) is back." Still, Sneddon said, "It's like, hey, you're winning and things are going pretty well in that position." … Fs Tom Forgione and Travis Blanleil are still listed week-to-week with injuries … Sneddon praised the fans for their support in the Maine series. "Our environment this year in Gutterson has been sensational," he said. "We certain appreciate it and value it and hope that we can keep providing those excellent moments for them to enjoy." … The polls don't really mean much at this time, except for recruiting and generating buzz, but So F Mario Puskarich said being in the Top 10 is "something we look at, not too hard, but we'd like to stay in the Top 10 for the rest of the year."